It’s not unusual for young children to be the most tech savvy members of a household. While it can be truly remarkable to see kids work so intuitively with technology, it can also sometimes be a bit alarming.

For parents, protecting kids is paramount, and this includes protecting them on the internet.  When it comes to sourcing broadband only deals for a family home, parents are wise to shop around and find the service that’s right for you, and one which allows for a certain amount of control when it comes to what kids are able to see, play and send online.

Filtering Content

Many broadband deals offer parents the ability to filter the content their children have access to. That said, it’s most important to talk to kids directly about their behaviour online and let them know that if they come across anything upsetting, they can turn to parents for help. Knowing what kids are looking at online is made easier by checking histories, but keeping an open dialogue is paramount.

Devices

In addition to filtering content online, parents can also monitor and control devices that connect to a home broadband network. Game consoles, smartphones and tablets have their own built in parental controls which can be set to limit access to apps that are out of a desired age range as well as spending. Setting verbal limits on screen time is a good idea for families and having the technical reinforcement to control access is a good way to ensure everyone in abiding by tech related family rules.

Usage Reports

Some broadband providers make parent’s lives easier with offerings like usage reports. Instead of relying on cookies or browser history (which kids can manipulate or delete with relative ease) parents can get the search information directly from their network provider.  These are great for helping parents get a sense of kids’ internet habits and checking them regularly can mean parents are better equipped to act when something unusual comes up in the report.

There’s no way parents will be able to control everything children do online, but there are plenty of great tools that enable parents to filter content, set limits on device usage and review user histories so kids will stay safe and parents will rest easy.

This post is a Collaboration.

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